Symptomatic Calcifications after Mastectomy: A Rare Case Report with a Review of the Literature

Abstract

Introduction: Symptomatic calcifications of the breast or skin after breast cancer surgery and adjuvant radiotherapy are a rare entity, with only a few case reports published worldwide, reducing the patient’s quality of life, whilst asymptomatic calcifications are a common finding on imaging methods. Case presentation: Herein, we present a rare case report of calcifications after mastectomy and post-mastectomy radiation therapy causing chronic inflammation with ulceration and fistula formation, with a two-step surgical approach consisting of excision with linear suture and excision with the reconstruction using a thoraco-epigastric flap. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first publication proving the feasibility of this therapy in patients with symptomatic dystrophic calcifications of the skin or the breast. Moreover, the article provides an up-to-date review of published studies about symptomatic calcifications after breast cancer surgery and radiotherapy with a focus on the time of the clinical manifestation from the radiotherapy and the used radiotherapy scheme.

Keywords

• calcifications
• mastectomy
• breast cancer
• radiotherapy